Burmese pythons are not just big snakes, growing to more than 18 feet and 200 pounds, but big eaters, taking on prey as large as a deer. Biologists at the University of Cincinnati found that it’s not just the size of its head and body that puts almost everything on a python’s menu. They evolved super-stretchy skin between their lower ...

Bright, uniquely colored songbirds are at higher risk of extinction and more likely to be traded as pets, according to researchers reporting in Current Biology on September 15. The researchers also predict that almost 500 additional bird species, most of them living in the tropics, are at risk of future trade based on their unique and desirable coloration. “Aesthetic value ...

Mandya (Karnataka), Sep 12 (IANS) Scientists on Monday successfully fitted a GPS device to a pelican bird in Kokkare Bellur in Karnataka’s Mandya district. A team of scientists attached to the Dehradun Wildlife Institute carried out the experiment for the first time in the country, according to the local officials. The experiment was carried out to study the abodes of pelicans, ...

It may be surprising to learn that even giraffes, parrots, and oak trees are included in the list of threatened species, as well as cacti and seaweed. Seaweed is one of the planet’s great survivors, and relatives of some modern-day seaweed can be traced back some 1.6 billion years. Seaweed plays a vital role in marine ecosystems, providing habitats and ...

Human activities could change the pace of evolution, similar to what occurred 66 million years ago when a giant asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, leaving modern birds as their only descendants. That’s one conclusion drawn by the authors of a new study published in Systematic Biology. Cornell University Ph.D. candidate Jacob Berv and University of Bath Prize Fellow Daniel Field ...